At least 15 people are dead and at least 30 people were injured after a man drove a truck into a crowd at Bourbon and Canal streets in New Orleans on New Year’s Day in a terrorist attack, according to the FBI.
It happened around 3:15 a.m. toward the end of New Year’s celebrations in New Orleans and hours before the expected kickoff of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, a college football quarterfinal held in the city’s Caesars Superdome.
The FBI confirmed the identity of the suspected driver of the truck as Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, of Texas. A new photo of Jabbar was released early Thursday morning:
NBC reports that the FBI is not prepared to say that Jabbar carried out the attack alone.
The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office is actively working to identify the victims killed in the tragedy, but may not release all of the names of those involved for several days.
As the FBI focuses its search for new information in the attack, New Orleans officials are working around the clock to shift their efforts to protecting the Superdome ahead of the Allstate Sugar Bowl game, which was rescheduled for Thursday.
According to New Orleans Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, she is confident that the game will be safe and enjoyable for all who attend.
Kirkpatrick is expecting a briefing from the FBI Thursday morning, and says the goal is to reopen Bourbon Street later in the afternoon.